Czechowski et al.pub

FRAGMENTA FAUNISTICA 51 (1): 9–13, 2008
PL ISSN 0015-9301 © MUSEUM AND INSTITUTE OF ZOOLOGY PAS
Second report on the occurrence of Camponotus truncatus (Spinola)
(Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Poland, with a key to the Polish species
of the genus Camponotus Mayr
Hanna SUCHOCKA*, Wojciech CZECHOWSKI** and Alexander RADCHENKO**
*Warsaw University of Live Sciences (SGGW), Faculty of Agriculture and Biology, Nowoursynowska St 159,
02-776 Warszawa, Poland; e-mail: [email protected]
**Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS, Laboratory of Social and Myrmecophilous Insects, Wilcza St 64,
00-679 Warszawa, Poland; e-mails: [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract: A second locality of Camponotus (Colobopsis) truncatus (Spinola), a Mediterranean dendrobiotic ant species rare in Central Europe is reported from Poland. Single workers were collected from trunks of old oaks (Quercus
robur L.) in the Rogalin Oak Wood within the Rogalin Landscape Park (Wielkopolsko-Kujawska Lowland, Western
Poland). At the same time, besides C. truncatus, one more rare ant species, Temnothorax corticalis (Schenck), is reported from the Wielkopolsko-Kujawska Lowland for the first time. A key to workers of the Polish species of the
genus Camponotus Mayr is given.
Key words: ants, Camponotus truncatus, Temnothorax corticalis, dendrobionts, oak forests, fauna of Poland
INTRODUCTION
Until recently, five species of the genus Camponotus Mayr, representing two subgenera,
were known from Poland: Camponotus (Camponotus) herculeanus (L.), C. (C.) ligniperda
(Latr.), C. (C.) vagus (Scop.), C. (Myrmentoma) fallax (Nyl.), and C. (M.) piceus (Leach). Two
other previously reported species, C. (M.) lateralis (Olivier) and C. (Tanaemyrmex) aethiops
(Latr.), have been crossed off the list of Polish myrmecofauna because of incredibility of the
reports, based most probably on misidentifications (Czechowski et al. 2002; for the Polish species of Camponotus see also Pisarski 1961 and Krzysztofiak 1991). One more Camponotus
species, C. truncatus (Spinola), a member of the subgenus Colobobsis Mayr, was found in Poland very recently (Borowiec 2007).
The subgenus Colobopsis includes about 115 species identified to date, distributed mainly
in tropical and subtropical regions of India, South-Eastern Asia, Australasia and Central America. C. truncatus, a Mediterranean zoogeographical element, is the only representative of this
subgenus which occurs in Europe (see Radchenko 1996, 1997, 2007). The European part of its
compact range includes Southern and partly Central Europe, reaching a latitude of 50.4° north;
single scattered sites of C. truncatus reach farther, in Germany to the latitude of Berlin (i.e. to
around (52.3°N) (Seifert 2007). The present paper reports the second finding of this species in
Poland.
OUTLINE OF BIOLOGY OF C. TRUNCATUS
C. truncatus is a thermo- and hemixerophilous species, an oligotope of warm, light and dry
deciduous forests, encountered also in mixed forests, old parks and orchards. It prefers sparse
woods, mainly oak and juniper. As a typical dendrobiont it nests in dead parts (mainly dry
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H. Suchocka, W. Czechowski, A. Radchenko
branches) of living trees. Incipient colonies can also dwell in woody hollow stems of certain
plants. Colonies are monogynous, numbering up to 500 workers. In mature colonies, the
worker caste is strictly dimorphic (as in all members of the subgenus Colobopsis). Apart from
ordinary (3–5 mm in length) workers, a number of soldiers (5–6 mm in length) are also seen;
no intermediate morphs are present. A distinctive feature of soldiers is their strongly sclerotised
plug-shaped anterior part of head, used by them to plug nest holes (see ‘phragmosis’ e.g. in
Hölldobler & Wilson 1990). The same head structure is characteristic of C. truncatus queens,
in which it serves to close the nest entrance during the claustral period. Ordinary workers forage in tree canopies feeding on honey dew and preying on small insects. They very seldom
walk down tree trunks, which makes the species hard to record. Soldiers do not leave the nests
(Stitz 1939, Bernard 1967, Atanasov & Dlusskij 1992, Seifert 2007). Most probably, soldiers
of C. truncatus, besides their defensive role, serve also as a trophic subcaste in the colony,
which is connected with their proportionately larger gasters. As has been found in C. fraxinicola M. R. Smith, a North-American member of the subgenus Colobopsis, the soldiers store
large amounts of liquid food in their crops and their gasters are filled with large fat bodies
(Wilson 1974).
C. TRUNCATUS IN POLAND
The first Polish record of C. truncatus was in an old urban park in Wrocław (51°12’N, 16°
59’E; Lower Silesia) in 2006 (for more details see Borowiec 2007). The second finding, reported here, was at Rogalin (52°14’N, 16°56’E; UTM XT 38) near Poznań (WielkopolskoKujawska Lowland, Western Poland), about 120 km north of the former site (Fig. 1).
The Rogalin Oak Wood (Dęby Rogalińskie or Dąbrowa Rogalińska), the biggest cluster of
old oaks in Europe, stretches out on the flooded terrace of the Warta river valley, within the
Rogalin Landscape Park. The wood, consisting of about 2000 oaks, mainly Quercus robur L.,
several hundred years old, is a remnant of old ash-elm carrs of the association FicarioUlmetum (=Fraxineto-Ulmetum), in which Q. robur is a constant component of the tree stand
Fig. 1. Localities of C. truncatus in Poland: 1 – Wrocław (after Borowiec 2007), 2 – Rogalin ad Poznań (new locality)
(W-KL – Wielkopolsko-Kujawska Lowland, LS – Lower Silesia).
Camponotus truncatus in Poland
11
(see Matuszkiewicz 1981). The edge of the oak wood is within the palace park at Rogalin,
where it constitutes an English-style part of the park. Among other ants, two workers of
C. truncatus were collected there from the oak trunks by the first author on 4th and 5th July,
2007. These specimens were found on different distant trees, possibly indicating (based on the
biology of the species; see above) that they represented two separate colonies.
OTHER RESULTS
Besides C. truncatus, eight more ant species were recorded on the Rogalin oaks: Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (L.), Temnothorax corticalis (Schenck), Camponotus fallax (Nyl.),
Lasius platythorax Seifert, L. brunneus (Latr.), Lasius fuliginosus (Latr.), Myrmica ruginodis
Nyl., and Formica cunicularia Latr. The first six species are dendrobionts, so their presence on
the old trees was not accidental. The most interesting of them is T. corticalis, which was recorded from the Wielkopolsko-Kujawska Lowland for the first time. It is a little known EuroCaucasian species, very rare in Poland and found only in xerothermal sites, an oligotope of
light and dry deciduous forests, nesting in dead tree branches (mainly oak), in bark crevices
and in dry fallen wood (see Czechowski et al. 2002). Another dendrobiont, C. fallax, was recorded from the Wielkopolsko-Kujawska Lowland for the second time (formerly it was reported exactly from the Rogalin Oak Wood; Banaszak 1977).
DISCUSSION
Although the ants of Poland are rather well known (Czechowski et al. 2002), species new
for the country are still occasionally recorded (e.g. Radchenko et al. 2003, 2004, 2005). Recently (Borowiec 2007 and the present report), C. truncatus is an addition to the list of the Polish myrmecofauna. It should be mentioned here that there is one more, unpublished (based on a
personal communication), recent report of the species under discussion reputedly found in
Western Poland – halfway between the two “official” sites, but it requires confirmation. This
series of recent finds is puzzling, especially in the context of a long tradition of faunistic myrmecological research in the western regions of Poland. The question arises whether C. truncatus has started to extend its range in Central Europe in recent years. It is possible the more so
because C. truncatus was not found on the Rogalin oaks when the occurrence of hymenopterans was studied there in the mid-1970’s (Banaszak 1977). On the other hand, those results are
not too reliable as regards ants since only five ant species were recorded then, including only
two dendrobionts (C. fallax and Lasius fuliginosus), during a two-year fairly systematic investigation, i.e. fewer than recently collected by one person over two days.
KEY TO THE POLISH SPECIES OF THE GENUS CAMPONOTUS (WORKERS)
(after Czechowski et al. 2002, supplemented)
1. Head of soldiers (and queens) sharply truncated anteriorly, lower part of frons and clypeus
forming flat rounded plate (Fig. 2). Head of workers rounded, not truncated, and propodeal
dorsum distinctly concave transversally (seen in profile) (Fig. 3). Head and alitrunk reddish,
gaster brownish black ........................................................................ C. truncatus (Spinola)
- Head of soldiers and queens not truncated anteriorly, propodeum of workers has another
shape (Figs 4–9). Body colour various ................................................................................ 2
2. Alitrunk in profile with distinct, often deep, metanotal groove, dorsal surface of propodeum
flattened and meets its declivity at an acute or right angle (Fig. 4) .......... C. piceus (Leach)
- Alitrunk in profile gradually convex, without metanotal groove, its dorsum not flattened,
forming more or less regular arch (Figs 8, 9) ...................................................................... 3
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H. Suchocka, W. Czechowski, A. Radchenko
3. Anterior clypeal margin distinctly notched medially (Fig. 5) ...................... C. fallax (Nyl.)
- Anterior clypeal margin not notched medially (Figs 6, 7) .................................................. 3
4. (3) Whole body black; occipital margin of head with numerous standing hairs (Fig. 6)
.................................................................................................................... C. vagus (Scop.)
- Alitrunk from yellowish red to brownish red, head and gaster brownish black; occipital
margin of head without or, at most, with a few standing hairs (Fig. 7) .............................. 5
5. (4) At least basal third of first gastral tergite reddish, remainder of gaster brownish black
(Fig. 8) ................................................................................................. C. ligniperda (Latr.)
- At most declivity of first gastral tergite could be reddish, remainder of gaster brownish
black (Fig. 9) ......................................................................................... C. herculeanus (L.)
Figs 2–9. Details of structure of Camponotus species (workers): 2, 3 – C. truncatus, 4 – C. piceus, 5 – C. fallax,
6 – C. vagus, 7, 8 – C. ligniperda, 9 – C. herculeanus; 1 – head (of soldier; lateral view), 3, 4, 8, 9 – alitrunk, petiole
and base of gaster, lateral view, 5 – lower part of head, dorsal view, 6, 7 – head, dorsal view. Scale bars: 1 mm.
Camponotus truncatus in Poland
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank two referees, Vera Antonova and Joanna Pętal-Figielska, for reviewing and
improving the manuscript. This paper has been prepared as part of a research project sponsored
by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Warsaw – Grant No. N303 012 31/0604.
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STRESZCZENIE
[Drugie doniesienie o występowaniu Camponotus truncatus (Spinola) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) w Polsce, z kluczem do oznaczania krajowych gatunków z rodzaju Camponotus Mayr]
Praca zawiera informację o wykryciu w Polsce drugiego stanowiska Camponotus (Colobopsis) truncatus (Spinola). Jest to medyterraneński gatunek dendrobiotyczny, oligotop jasnych, ciepłych i suchych lasów liściastych, głównie dębowych. Robotnice C. truncatus znaleziono na pniach Dębów Rogalińskich w obrębie Rogalińskiego Parku Krajobrazowego (Nizina
Wielkopolsko-Kujawska). Stanowisko to leży na północnej granicy zasięgu gatunku. Wcześniej w Polsce C. truncatus został stwierdzony na dębach w parku miejskim we Wrocławiu
(Borowiec 2007). Spośród innych gatunków mrówek zebranych z pni starych dębów w Rogalinie na szczególną uwagę zasługuje – po raz pierwszy wykazany z Niziny WielkopolskoKujawskiej – Temnothorax corticalis (Schenck), mało znany dendrobiont euro-kaukaski, również oligotop jasnych i suchych lasów liściastych. Do pracy dołączony jest klucz do oznaczania
krajowych gatunków z rodzaju Camponotus Mayr na podstawie robotnic.
Accepted: 16 April 2008